Driving mechanism for stone-sawing machines



June 4, 1929. GILMAND 7 1,716,122

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR STONE SAWING MACHINES Filed March5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 4, 1929. E. GILMAND 1,716,122

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR STONE SAWING MACHINES Filed March 6, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 4:, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,716,122 PATENT QFHQIE.

ERNEST GILMAND, OF LAIEKEIST-ZBR'USSELS, BELGIUM.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR STONE-SAVIING MACHINES.

Application filed March 6, 1928, Serial No. 259,413, and in Belgium March 10, 1927;

The present invention has for its object a driving mechanism more especially applied to stone sawing machines in which the saw frame is actuated to have a reciprocating oscillatory movement, produced by members serving at the same time as fly-wheels and equilibrium wheels, so as to lighten considerably the mechanism, to suppress the shocks and jerks, to reduce the space occupied by the machine due to the usual horizontal connecting rod and the crank shaft, and at the same time to build a particularly solid mechanism and not liable to be damaged by dust particles and adapted to withstand 'extremely hard conditions in which the machine has to work.

The invention consists moreparticularly in mounting the motor or the means for bringing motive power and thetransmissions on the carriage supporting the saw frame.

The invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the figures on the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section along AB of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section through part of the mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a section through part ofthe mechanism according to another form of realization;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a part section through another way of disposing the side plates;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of Fig. 6.

Referring to these figures, which illustrate merely by way of an example embodiments of the invention, the machine comprises essentially a main frame-work comprising the head frame 2 connecting the upright columns 1 between which a frame 3, supporting the saw blades, moves with a reciprocating oscillatory movement. The frame 3 is suspended on a group of connecting rods 1, the lower ends of which are keyed upon shafts 5 oscillating in bearings 7 mounted on the tightening plate of the saw frame 3,-and the upper ends of which rotate on a shaft 6, carried by supports 8, forming part of the side plates 9 of the carriage; this intermediate shaft 6 serves to suspend the saw frame 3 within the housing. These side plates 9 are built higher than the usually used side plates, so as tobe able to be provided with bearings 10 for a transmission shaft 11 and a bracket 12 for the preferbly electric mete-r13. The meter 13 actuates by of transmission gears 14% the More said shaft 11, upon which are keyed one or more discs 15. These discs are provided on their surfaces facing each other with eccentric guide-ways 16 of suitable profile and the distribution of the weight has been calculated so as to equilibrate as perfectly as possible the inertia reactions of the mechanism. According to the circumstances, the profile of these guide-ways will be drawn so as to obtain a regular movement of the saw blades, or to provoke a sudden start adapted to disaggregate somewhat the stone by the shock occurring when the blades come into contact with the stone, and consequently to prepare and facilitate the work of the abrasive materials. In the guide-ways 16 slide tenons or roll balls 17 carried by the upper head of a lever 18. The rolling of balls 17 can be facilitated by mounting them on ball bearings. On the other hand, the single or double lever 18 is mounted on two axes 5 and 6, so that a reciprocating movement imparted to the rollers 17 forces itto oscillate andto take with it in its oscillating movementthe supporting connecting rods 4, and consequently to impartthe reciprocating oscillatory movement to the saw frame. The vertical movement of the carriage will be ensured as in all machines of this. type, by an appropriate device, which can be either driven by a screw or be of the chain and counterweight type, or of any other appropriate known type.

The device according to the present inven-' tion. is thus characterized by its extreme simplicity, comprising only as members in relative movement the axes 5 and 11 rotating in their bearings, the balls 17 or tenons 1.7 sliding in the guide-ways 16 of the discs or flywheels 15 andv the transmission gears 14. Consequently it does not comprise any easily damaged element and all the surfaces in contact can be easily protected against dust particles and the introduction of abrasive ma. terials resulting from the sawing of the stone. Moreover, its great simplicity allows it to be perfectly equilibrated and, the inertia reactions being produced in the transmission itself, the foundation of the machines canbe considerably lightened. The heavy foundation for the crank shaft of the horizontal connecting rod transmissions, in which this shaft must undergo all the reactions of the saw frame and of the heavy connecting 'rod, is in any way avoided. Finally it must be noted that the present device can be easily applied to mach-tries, simply transforming their carriage and by eliminating the transmission by means of a horizontal connecting rod, which allows the space occupied by the machine to be reduced by nearly half.

Another characteristic of the machines provided with the present device is that, as

the two ends of it are free from any mecha nism, it becomes possible to simplify the workings of introducing and removing the blocks to be sawn. Indeed, the block to be sawn can be brought to one side of the machine; it is then sufiicient to attach the carriage supporting the sawn block to the carriage supporting the block to be sawn, to be able, by one single traction, to introduce the block to be sawn under the saw frame and at the same time to remove the already sawn block and to bring the latter on a track or transporter for removing it, placed on the other side of the machine.

The device can also be modified with a view of adapting the apparatus to certain desiderata and to render possible and practical the transformation of existing apparatus. The height of the block to be sawn of which the machine is capable can namely be increased without modifying the height of the uprights of the frame work and at the same time the mechanism can be lightened by reducing the diameters of the shafts which are made use of, as illustrated on Figs. 4 and 5. According to this device, the lever 18 is duplicated so that its lower-arms take the place of the supporting connecting rods 14 previously described. The reactions of the mechanism are thus brought back to the immediate surroundings of the bearings, which allows to considerably lighten the shafts 5 and 11.. At the same time the lever 18 is bent .at right angles or nearly so, and the shaft 11, driven by the motor, is brought back towards the outside of the machine, by pivotally mounting it in bearings mounted on brackets forming part of the carriage. This device gives more space in height, since the length of the upward arms of the lever 18 is reduced and eventually, with suitable dimensions of different elements, the 'fly-wheel 15 can be raised up to the level of the head cross-beam 2.

The preceding device can also be modified as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. According to this embodiment of the invention, the vertically movable side plates of the carriage are brought back outside the uprights of the frame. This arrangement, convenient when the bearings of shaft 11 are brought back outside the frame, has moreover another advantage, i. e. to protect the surfaces in contact of side-plates 9 from the splashing of abrasive materials and-to allow a more solid construction of these side plates, assuming that the space occupied. by them has no longer to be taken into account.

Devices taking the motive power from a general workshop transmission, instead of the individual motor which has been more especially indicated in the foregoing description, can also be used; similarly, the driving power for the shifting of the carriage can be, according to circumstances, taken from a general transmission, or from an individual motor, or from the principal motor of the machine. The device with grooved fly-wheels can be replaced, without modifying the invention, by a. device with one or more cams mounted on shaft 11 and guiding one or more rollers supported by the one or more levers 18, but it must be noted that these last contrivances have not given as good results as the device with grooved fly-wheels. The individual motor allows also the speed of the work to be adjusted by simply acting on its starter.

I claim:

1. In a stone sawing machine of the type described, a saw frame, a driving mechanism for giving an oscillatory reciprocating movement to the frame, comprising a support, a carriage mounted on the support and vertically slidable thereon, side plates on the carriage, bearings in the side plates, a horizontal shaft journalled in the bearings, connecting rods rotatably suspended from the horizontal shaft and pivotally supporting the saw frame, a lever having an upper and a lower arm pivotally mounted on the horizontal shaft intermediate its ends, an eccentric device for actuating the upper arm of said lever and a pivoted connection between the lower arm of said lever and the saw frame, said lower arm being in the same plane with the said connecting rods.

2. Ina stone sawing machine of the type described, a saw frame, a driving mechanism for giving an oscillatorv reciprocating movement to the frame, comprising a support, a carriage mounted on the support and vertically slidable thereon, side plates on the carriage, hearings in the side plates, a horizontal shaft-'journalled in the bearings, levers having an upper and a lower arm pivotally mounted on the horizontal shaft intermediate its ends, eccentric devices for actuating the upper arms of said levers and pivoted connections between the lower arms of said levers and the saw frame.

8. In a stone sawing machine of the type described, a saw frame, a driving mechanism for giving an oscillatory reciprocating movement to the frame, comprising a support, a carriage mounted on the support and vertically slidable thereon,'side plates on the carriage, bearings in the side plates, a horizon tal shaft journalled in the bearings, connecting rods rotatably suspended from'the horizontal shaft and pivotally supporting the saw frame, a lever having an upper and a lower arm pivotally mounted on the horizontal shaft intermediate its ends, a pivoted connection between the lower arm of said lever and the saw frame, said lower arm being in the same plane with said connecting rods, a motor mounted on said carriage, a horizontal driving shaft rotated by said motor, flywheels keyed upon said driving shaft, eccentric tracks on said fly wheels and rollers carried by the upper arm of said lever and actuated by said eccentric tracks.

l. In a stone sawing machine of the type described, a saw frame, a driving mechanism for giving an oscillatory reciprocating movement to the frame, comprising a support, a carriage mounted on the support and vertically slidable thereon, side plates on the carriage, bearings in the side plates, a horizontal shaft journalled in the bearings, connecting rods rotatably suspended from the horizon tal shaft and pivotally supporting the saw frame, a lever having an upper and a lower arm pivotally mounted on the horizontal shaft intermediate its ends, a pivoted connection between the lower arm of said lever and the saw frame, said lower arm being in the same plane with said connecting rods, a motor mounted on said carriage, a horizon tal driving shaft rotated by said motor, fiy wheels keyed upon said driving shaft, eccentric grooves in said flywvheels, the profile of these grooves being such as to provoke a sudden start at the beginning of the oscillatory stroke of the saw frame adapted to disaggregate the stone by the shock occurring when the saw blades come in contact with the stone, and rollers carried by the upper arm of said lever and actuated by said eccentric grooves.

In testimony whereof I signed hereunto my name.

ERNEST GILMAND. 

